Post your Wide Open + Neutral Density + Strobe(s) photos

Wow manav. Awesome awesome stuff.

Fantastic work Manav!

I will have to pull out my 70-200 ISII from under the bed and start using it =)

Do you use the Sekonic as well?

JakAHearts wrote in post #15274440
Wow manav. Awesome awesome stuff.

chesterjohnphoto wrote in post #15277861
Fantastic work Manav!

I will have to pull out my 70-200 ISII from under the bed and start using it =)

Do you use the Sekonic as well?

thanks guys

Yeah i use the sekonic l-358.

5W0L3 wrote in post #15278126
thanks guys

Yeah i use the sekonic l-358.

I'm curious just how much you guys value your light meters? After using one, do you feel you could reproduce the same results without one or would you feel lost w/o it?

Aressem wrote in post #15295554
I'm curious just how much you guys value your light meters? After using one, do you feel you could reproduce the same results without one or would you feel lost w/o it?

I might be able to reproduce the same result, but it would take longer and I wouldnt have as much faith in the results. Chimping to get where you want to be is fine, but its so much easier to meter it and be shooting in seconds.

gonzogolf wrote in post #15295615
I might be able to reproduce the same result, but it would take longer and I wouldnt have as much faith in the results. Chimping to get where you want to be is fine, but its so much easier to meter it and be shooting in seconds.

Fair enough. Another question since I've never used a light meter. Do you take a reading and plug those variables in, verbatim? Or do you add or subtract 2/3 of a stop to give it some style? I'm just curious how beneficial a meter really is and how much it contributes to a faster workflow in the field.

gonzogolf wrote in post #15295615
I might be able to reproduce the same result, but it would take longer and I wouldnt have as much faith in the results. Chimping to get where you want to be is fine, but its so much easier to meter it and be shooting in seconds.

Im with Gonzo here. Its easier and faster to meter. Plus, in studio, you can reproduce the same shot over and over, anytime, anywhere.

Aressem wrote in post #15295682
Fair enough. Another question since I've never used a light meter. Do you take a reading and plug those variables in, verbatim? Or do you add or subtract 2/3 of a stop to give it some style? I'm just curious how beneficial a meter really is and how much it contributes to a faster workflow in the field.

I dont plug them in verbatim, but use them to create whatever look I want. I tend to like to underexpose the background sometimes. So I take an ambient reading to see where my starting point is, but I still adjust my camera to get the effect I want.

To keep things simple lets say its a one light shoot. I would then add my flash and meter the scene using that (changing from ambient mode to flashmeter mode). I can then determine whether I need to raise or lower the flash power to get the balance I want. On the sekonic l-358 it tells you how much of the scene is flash compared to ambient.

Aressem wrote in post #15295682
Fair enough. Another question since I've never used a light meter. Do you take a reading and plug those variables in, verbatim? Or do you add or subtract 2/3 of a stop to give it some style? I'm just curious how beneficial a meter really is and how much it contributes to a faster workflow in the field.

I use what the meter says for portraits. Then, it's easy to go two or three clicks on the aperture and move the ISO as well for more/less DOF and while maintaining the same exposure balance. If I find I need more/less ambient, thats a drop or uptake in shutter speed. Easy peasy.

gonzogolf wrote in post #15295720
I dont plug them in verbatim, but use them to create whatever look I want. I tend to like to underexpose the background sometimes. So I take an ambient reading to see where my starting point is, but I still adjust my camera to get the effect I want.

To keep things simple lets say its a one light shoot. I would then add my flash and meter the scene using that (changing from ambient mode to flashmeter mode). I can then determine whether I need to raise or lower the flash power to get the balance I want. On the sekonic l-358 it tells you how much of the scene is flash compared to ambient.

Interesting. Perhaps I should consider getting one for myself. Is there a light meter that you would recommend? Best bang for the buck while including the essential features?

Aressem wrote in post #15295735
Interesting. Perhaps I should consider getting one for myself. Is there a light meter that you would recommend? Best bang for the buck while including the essential features?

Sekonic L-358, the most widely recommended model on here. Its a nice cross section of value and performance.

gonzogolf wrote in post #15295738
Sekonic L-358, the most widely recommended model on here. Its a nice cross section of value and performance.

Thanks Gonzo. You seem to spend a lot of time on here helping people out although I never see any of your work. What have you been up to lately? Shooting anything interesting? Is there somewhere I can see your work?

Aressem wrote in post #15295750
Thanks Gonzo. You seem to spend a lot of time on here helping people out although I never see any of your work. What have you been up to lately? Shooting anything interesting? Is there somewhere I can see your work?

I dont get to shoot as much as I would like. kevin-jones.smugmug.com is my web gallery. Its a mix of work for clients and personal stuff. I post a few things now and again in the sample threads.

The L358 is probably the best bang for buck, imho. I think youll find you like using the light meter. Unlike gonzo man, I dont meter my ambient. I use the in camera meter and set it. Ive become good at using grass or open sky etc to set this. Then Ill set my subject exposure with the meter. Now, Im free to play and create whatever I want. If I want to start killing ambient while keeping shallow dof, its easy to do so now because you have everything set and it only took about 10 seconds and I didnt even take any shots.